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The Rental Market is Stable But Landlords Need Help Say Zoopla.

The number of people currently renting in the UK remains stable with 12% more renters using letting agents since 2017 according to a recent survey from Zoopla. Satisfaction with their letting agent is also on the up with an 8% increase over the last year with the number of renters feeling dissatisfied has dropped by 6%.

The report has also suggested, unsurprisingly, that out of the 2,173 renters surveyed, what tenants are looking for most when looking to rent through a letting agent, is transparency as well as being fair and treated well.

The biggest concern from the report however, was the segment on Landlords requiring assistance.

The reportsuggested that 56% of Landlords struggle to find a suitable tenant and this was their main concern. Finding tenants that would look after their property and paying their rent on time was also high on the list.

There has been an increase in Landlords over the last two years, having grown 2.2% since 2016 however, some Landlords are struggling to keep up with the latest legislation with awareness of recent changes being relatively low despite it being recognised as a challenge. Having said this, the report found that letting agents seemed to be on top of it.

For example, looking at the chart below that has been taken from the report, we can see that only 31% of landlords were aware that ‘energy inefficient properties could be fined’ yet 64% of letting agents were aware of this.

“Only around a third of landlords are aware of some of the biggest regulatory changes. This presents an opportunity for letting agents to share knowledge and educate landlords further about changes in legislation, to stop them dropping out of the market longer term.” – Zoopla.

On a more positive spin, most landlords that consider legislation and regulatory changes a challenge are not planning on doing anything different, with only 9% planning to leave the market as a result of the difficulties they face with legislation changes.

Letting a property seems to be more difficult with increasing legislation changes and the difficulties in finding a new, reliable tenant. One landlord in the report commented “I cannot stand the hassle and the rules and headache that goes with renting”, whilst another commented “I’ve started using a letting agent to manage the property”.

“The problem is, landlords use property investment as an opportunity to have a recurring income, however, this is not the case if you are constantly having to chase up your tenants as well as regularly checking up on the legislation and making sure you are complying.” – Jamie Campbell.

If you are having trouble with the management of your properties whether it might be finding reliable tenants or just not understanding the latest changes in legislation, then come and talk to us.